Wenger: My Jack's the lad for England

London: Arsene Wenger believes Jack Wilshere has the potential to star for England at Euro 2012.

The teenager's impressive performances alongside fellow 18-year-old Emmanuel Frimpong have convinced the Arsenal boss that he does not need to buy another midfielder this summer.

Wenger said: "I think both will have a big future. Both are fighters, winners, put their foot in, are ready to fight for the team and have quality.

"At 18 years of age you must have patience but I believe Wilshere is stronger than last year. The few months he played at Bolton (on loan last season) has given him something else.

"In 2012 he will be 20. You cannot rule it out. Theo Walcott was at the World Cup at 17 and he had not played one game in the Premier League, but it did not kill him. To play at the top level you have to deal with these situations."

Wilshere was one of the young players Fabio Capello mentioned when discussing the future of the England team, but Wenger believes Frimpong also has the quality to play for the senior side.

The midfielder represented England at Under 16 and Under 18 level but has switched allegiance to the country of his birth, Ghana.

"Here you have a boy who can choose between England and Ghana so if I was in your place I would invite him very quickly to play for England," said Wenger.

Alex Song, Denilson, Abou Diaby and Aaron Ramsey were absent through injury during this weekend's Emirates Cup but Wenger is confident his young duo can anchor Arsenal's midfield this season.

Central defenders

He said: "At the start of the pre-season I was not convinced Wilshere and Frimpong were defensive midfielders. We were considering going into the market for a midfielder but we will not do that now."

But the Frenchman did concede Arsenal need to buy at least one and preferably two central defenders.

The Gunners have only three recognised centre backs following the departures of William Gallas, Sol Campbell, Phillipe Senderos and Mikael Silvestre this summer. Neither Johan Djourou, who played only 28 minutes in the Premier League last season after knee surgery, nor new signing Laurent Koscielny has played a competitive match alongside first-choice Thomas Vermaelen.

Arsenal's goalkeeper is another area of concern. Lukasz Fabianski played in Saturday's 1-1 draw against AC Milan and Manuel Almunia took over for yesterday's win. In truth, Almunia had little to do until Celtic rallied in the final 20 minutes.

Wilshere put Arsenal on track inside four minutes, feeding the lively Walcott. The winger's right-foot shot was prodded in at the far post by Carlos Vela.

Walcott went close with a right-foot free-kick and a left-foot volley from Wilshere deserved a goal, but it was Bacary Sagna who made it 2-0 with a left-foot shot from the edge of the area just before half-time. AC Milan s 1-1 draw with Lyon early in the day meant Arsenal retained the Emirates Cup.